SPAIN. Montmelo: Max Verstappen wins the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix, beating fellow teammate Sergio Perez, who had the fastest lap of the race at The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya located in Montmelo, Barcelona, Spain. Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain secured third place. This was Max Verstappen’s fourth victory this season.
With this victory, Max Verstappen now leads the 2022 Driver Standings with 110 points, followed by Leclerc on 104 points and Perez on 85 points.
Sir Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes finished the fifth despite contacting Kevin Magnussen of Haas F1 Team at the start of the race. Valtteri Bottas was sixth for Alfa Romeo followed by Alpine’s Esteban Ocon securing seventh. McLaren’s Lando Norris was eighth ahead of Fernando Alonso and AlphaTauri‘s Yuki Tsunoda secured the 10th position.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc started at pole position and led the race up to lap 29 but had to retire his car due to a power unit problem. Zhou Guanyu of Alfa Romeo also had to retire on lap 32 for the second straight race.
“Of course, I went off, I just lost the rear. And I was on the train and trying to pass but my DRS was not always working which made it tough,” Verstappen said.
“We had the strategy to get ahead again and do our race. Difficult beginning but a good end!”
Sergio Perez mentioned that, “I have been feeling a lot of support this weekend so I am extremely happy to be on the podium for the first time in the Spanish Grand Prix. I think it was close but, in the end, it is a great team result, and I am happy with that. We went on different tyre strategies, and I let Max by in the beginning, but then I thought I could go by and not lose crucial seconds to make my strategy work. But anyway… it is a team result.”
George Russell said, “Today was very tough, I gave it everything I could AND AM just so proud to be standing here as the guys have worked so hard. I’M Pleased to be able to bring it home in P3 – lots of points on the board for us. It was a very difficult last few laps: it was a survival race.”
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said, “With Lewis, we had probably the fastest racecar today.”
He further added, “He was at stages in the race the quickest and that shows the potential the car has. That looked like a world championship car he was driving.”
The 2022 Spanish Grand Prix results: Top 5
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 25 Points
- Sergio Perez (Red Bull) 19 Points
- George Russell (Mercedes) 15 Points
- Carlos Sainz (Ferrari ) 12 Points
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 10 Points
The Driver’s standings after the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) 110 PTS
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 104 PTS
- Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) 85 PTS
- George Russell (Mercedes) 74 PTS
- Carlos Sainz (Ferrari ) 65 PTS
The Constructors standings after the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix
- Red Bull, Points scored: 195 PTS
- Ferrari, Points scored: 169 PTS
- Mercedes, Points scored: 120 PTS
2022 Spanish Grand Prix and Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
The Catalan Government, the Royal Automobile Club of Catalonia, and the Town Council of Montmeló collaborated to make the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya a reality. Inaugurated on 10 September 1991, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya located in Montmeló was built keeping in mind the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Within weeks the first F1 Grand Prix of the circuit witnessed an epic battle between Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna before Nigel went ahead and created history. The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is an interesting mix of high and low-speed corners. The drivers experienced good grip in this aerodynamically demanding and quite challenging track surface.
Coming next in the Formula One season for 2022 is the ‘2022 Monaco Grand Prix’ which is scheduled from May 27 – 29, 2022, in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
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